“To be interesting, be interested.”

Oftentimes, during conversations people are not focused on actively listening to what the other person has to say, spending their time thinking about what they are going to say next. During meetings, interviews or even friends and family gatherings, it’s important to be present and to pay attention to what the other person has to say.

From our early childhood we are taught to become leaders, to make decisions with no focus on how to listen, how to give importance to others?

During my Honors from University of Punjab, I was living in hostel. I had 3 roommates. One of my roommates, Sara, used to stay upset because of her aggregate in MCAT. She had secured an aggregate of 88 but it was not enough to get admission in any Public sector medical college.

She stayed in room all day long on weekends, trying her best to avoid any conversation. I used to try my best to engage her into conversations but all in vein. I wanted to help her out of her misery as I had experienced the MCAT trauma.

A few days ago I was assigned a project for which I had to talk to random people asking about their life goals and life theories. I began with Sara. During my questions I recalled a quote by Dale Carnegie: “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”